Product Description

How low can you go? In Zero Down, you want to score as few points as possible, but to do that you need to collect the right cards in hand.

The deck consists of 56 cards, with cards numbered 1-8 in seven colors. Each player starts with nine cards in hand, and five, seven or nine cards start face-up on the table depending on the number of players. On a turn, you either knock on the table to pass or you swap one card in hand for one card on the table. After the second knock, whether from the same player or a different one, all players other than the second knocker have one final chance to swap, after which they reveal and score their hands. If you have five or more cards of the same color or number in hand, then those cards score 0 points. For each other number you have, no matter how many copies, you score points equal to that card's value. Thus, having one to four 7s in hand is worth 7 points.

If, however, you manage to collect both five cards of a color and five cards of a number in hand (with one card fitting in both sets), then you can declare "Zero!" and end the round immediately, with everyone else scoring points as usual.

After a number of rounds equal to the number of players, whoever has the lowest score wins!

Product Reviews

How do you make a game out of such simple components? (a deck of 6
coloured suits numbered 1 to 9) Answer: call in Dr. Gamebuster Knizia.
Each player receives a set of 9 of these cards and attempts to score a
'zero', which is 5 cards of the same colour and 5 of the same number.
Each aspect of these scores a zero and when combined, the player stops a
round and scores a zero. Other players score card values in their hands,
having considered how to minimise their own hands through making a zero.
You will have deduced that for this to be only nine cards, one of the
cards is common to both sets.

Cards are changed from the initial deal by exchanging one card from
hand with a card from a set of five cards that were placed face up
on the table at the beginning of the game. Cards not part of the
players' hands or the central set are not used in this round. This would
all be very tedious and rummy-like, if the set you were collecting did
not form part of the cards in play. So a player may 'knock' to pass
their turn, the second of which from any player signals the final round.

Scores are totted up and the lowest score after a series of rounds is
the winner. If game players should follow athletes, then this game would
be part of stretching exercise to ensure your brain is eased back into
normal mode. Good fun, non-exhausting, end-of-evening wind down rather
than wind-up.